by Corine Fairbanks, Oglala Lakota, American Indian Movement Southeastern Ohio

“Revolutionary struggles cannot achieve collective liberation for all people without addressing patriarchy, nor can women’s freedom be disentangled from racial, economic, & social justice.” -Victoria Law

The Zapatista women will host the First International Gathering of Politics, Art, Sport, and Culture for Women in Struggle in Chiapas, Mexico from March 7-11, 2018. A delegation of women from all walks of life, racial, social-economic, and cultural backgrounds strongly feel that we could learn much from our Zapatista sisters. Their indigenous perspectives and willingness to decolonize and reshape the political landscape into something that works for all people speaks to us as we look at the challenges we face in the US and Canada.

Here is the original notice that the women of the Zapatista Movement put out:

The desire to go to this gathering and to form this delegation came after much discussion regarding women’s liberation and women voices after the January 20th, 2018 Cincinnati Women’s March. The national theme and platform for Women’s Marches across the United States was “Hear Our Vote”. Many of us were disappointed with this because we felt that it marginalized women that could not vote, or chose not to participate in voting. In response, Black Lives Matter Cincinnati (not affiliated with National BLM) organized an open forum discussion about how to effectively fight for women’s liberation. The dialogue about women’s liberation, was to be approached from several different angles, ideas, and points of view, and addressing the problems of believing that voting is the greatest and most important power as oppressed and exploited people.

There were many subjects touched on, and not everyone in the audience was comfortable with it, yet the forum was a huge success with almost 300 people in attendance, many of whom were standing. Featured panelists included were from Black Lives Matter Cincinnati, American Indian Movement of Southeastern Ohio, Concerned Citizens for Justice, Cincinnati Revolutionary Students, and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Metro Cincinnati. Video footage of this panel can be found at Black Lives Matter Cincinnati Facebook group page; https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatterCincinnati/ The final thoughts concluded that there needs to be more discussion on Women’s liberation, community empowerment, and teaching our young and old people to learn how to organize around these issues.

Then in the first part of January, a few of us within the radical justice community in Cincinnati, saw a call out for the Women’s gathering by the Zapatista Women. Knowing what we know about the Zapatista Army, women play an equal role in leading armed resistance and use the “Revolutionary Law of Women”. This document gives an overview of the combination of social and political struggles that the Zapatista women identified as needing to change. Some of these factors included; Poverty, Rape, Domestic Violence, Access to Health care, Medicine and Treatment, Alcoholism, issues of sovereignty over bodies and land, and to be treated fairly and with equal political voice at home, in the community, and in the Zapatista Army.

The women I spoke with about going to this gathering in Chiapas, agreed that our work in our own communities largely encompasses the same issues with that of the Zapatista women. An Anishinaabe Elder that lives in a rural area of Canada commented that these are the same issues she deals with in working with Residential Boarding School survivors. A Dineh young woman living in Los Angeles, working as a Social Worker for Los Angeles County, said the same thing. As the delegation started quickly forming, it became obvious that in order to continue discussion on women’s liberation, we had to also go to this gathering to get some more “tools” and bring them back to share with our communities to analyze and have critical discussion.

This delegation is led by Native women. We are fundraising for 12 women to attend this gathering in March, Some Native, some not. Some of the Elders and Native women identify with “Indigenous feminism”, some do not. Some of the non-Native women identify as feminists. Yet all of us are working in our communities to better it; to keep our air clean, our waters protected, our lands from being raped by fuel extractions, and collaborating with various grassroots radical and revolutionary organizations on rural and urban landscapes with all of this and with social justice issues too. As activists and organizers, we are women, and we too are fighting to destroy patriarchal systems and structures- even within our own movements and within our Nations/Tribal structures. We believe that what we can learn from the experiences of the Zapatista women can be applied to our everyday struggles and within the current movements in our communities. In addition, we will be having fundraisers with a table set up to encourage attendees to write messages that they want us to take and share with the Zapatista people. We are not just limiting it to fundraising events to gather these messages, but also, we have made this request and offer on social media.

“We women attending the gathering would like to bring our Zapatista Relatives offerings from our homes. If you have any words of solidarity you would like us to share with our Zapatista sisters, please let us know. Upon our return, we hope to have community meetings and discussions to share what we have learned & our Zapatista Relatives responses to your messages as a way to provide a connection to them through us. ”

If you are reading this before March 7th, and would like us to include your message, please send me an email at corine68@yahoo.com to be included in our presentation in Chiapas.

This conference is fast approaching and we are making a call out for help. We have fundraisers planned throughout the month of February to meet our goal of $8,000 for travel expenses. Please invest in our communities. Invest in us. Our Delegation is small but our women are from various areas of the US and Canada represented:

American Indian Movement

Big Mountain Dineh Nation

Black Lives Matter Cincinnati

Biindigen Healing & Arts

Feminactivist

Idle No More Canada

Idle No More Detroit

Women of All Red Nations (WARN)

Water Protectors North/South Dakota

Any dollar amount that you can spare to help us reach this goal would be appreciated. Any effort to spread this message far and wide is greatly appreciated. Below is a link to our go fund me request:

Perhaps this endeavor of getting 12 women to Chiapas for this gathering is a bit ambitious. Perhaps the main purpose is to also role model to other communities that it takes a spark from an idea, and collectively working together, we can make it happen. Either way, we were not going to be intimidated by costs or pessimism to achieve this goal. Our Native Elders have taken this to ceremony and prayer and we feel that the women that are meant to go on this trip, will go. We believe that the 2 most important components to this mission is to first show solidarity because our Struggles are similar. Secondly, to bring back what we learn from our Zapatista Sisters, and share with our families and communities.

As diverse as this delegation is, we all agree that when women are free, communities are empowered, and everyone is free.

As Puerto Rico faces its most severe, existential crisis after 120 years as a militarily-occupied colony of the United States, Oscar Lopez Rivera, a recently-released Puerto Rican political prisoner held by the US, is coming to southern California to discuss Puerto Rican resistance and recovery efforts from the devastating impact of a triple whammy: Hurricane Maria, debt to Wall Street hedge funds, and the US response of seeking to de-populate the island.

López Rivera is an inspiring example of the power of principled commitment and resistance to oppression and repression. He is known as a Latin American Mandela. A decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, he served more than 35 years in federal prison for his commitment to independence for Puerto Rico; post-release, he is more dedicated than ever to serving his homeland and its working people.

Oscar López Rivera brings word of the historic struggle of all Puerto Ricans, and particularly Puerto Rican workers, on the island and in the US, for human dignity and economic rights, and of the current self-determined efforts at the grassroots to meet people’s needs, as FEMA has denied funds for local recovery even in the form of loans, but has spent money on a ship to transport Puerto Ricans from their homeland to the mainland. Puerto Ricans are being used as a new source of low wage labor to replace immigrants being deported by Trump.

The hurricane and its aftermath have worsened the existing problems. Despite the efforts of organized labor, working people in Puerto Rico get a smaller share of total income than do their counterparts here in the U.S. Thousands of jobs are threatened by the onerous “PROMESA” Fiscal Control Board. Effectively a junta mainly appointed by the Republican-dominated US Congress, it oversees the budget and government spending in Puerto Rico in order to meet the demands of Wall Street and hedge funds for debt repayment. Unlike US states and municipalities, Puerto Rico is denied by the US Congress the power to arrange for an orderly court-supervised bankruptcy process, and so its creditors get first claim on its funds, forcing the closing of schools and other essential services, and lay-offs of workers.

Upon finally being freed, López Rivera was greeted by tens of thousands of cheering Puerto Ricans. Since his release in May 2017, López Rivera has worked to provide community and labor aid for recovery in Puerto Rico, as well as addressing the needs of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the U.S. as he did in the years before his incarceration. This tour is raising funds for the Oscar López Rivera Foundation (Fundación Oscar López Rivera-Libertá) to support its important work and relief efforts. You can donate directly to support the Foundation, by writing a check made out to GLACTS (Great Lakes Asian Center for Theologies and Strategies) (Fiscal Agent for Oscar Lopez Rivera Foundation) and mailing it to: Fundación Oscar López Rivera-Libertá, c/o Toby Emmer, 483 17th Street, #2A, Brooklyn NY 11215.

TOUR ITINERARY

Mon Feb 5: afternoon – UC Santa Barbara; eve – Casa de la Raza

Tue Feb 6: AM – CSU Channel Islands (Ventura); afternoon- CSUN;

5:30pm Labor/legal reception,

7pm Community event: Maya Angelou HS, 300 E. 53rd St., 90011

Wed Feb 7: AM – Pasadena City College; afternoon CSULA;

5:30p Reception – Kirk Douglas Theater, Culver City

Thu Feb 8: 12n – Pomona College (Claremont CA)

evening – UCLA

Fri Feb 9: 7am – ICUJP w/ Rev. Lawson (Immanuel Presbyterian)

afternoon: Chapman University (Santa Ana)

evening: San Diego community event

For more information and to schedule media events and interviews, please call 310-460-8586. More information about Oscar López Rivera and the colonial case of Puerto Rico is available here: https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/gacol3312.doc.htm. Updated information about the Southern California visit itinerary is available here:

Tuesdays, 8-10p, EPFC ON THE AIR: OPTICAL TRACK ON DUBLAB.COM Optical Track is a weekly show presented by members of the Echo Park Film Center Co-op, a group of artists who collectively staff EPFC as volunteers for the cinematic revolution. Each week we bring you a sonic slideshow as we turn off the projector bulbs and turn up the sound. Optical Track is live on air Tuesdays 8 – 10 pm and archived at dublab.com

Feb 8-19: The 26th Annual Pan African Film + Arts Festival at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, LA 90008. Film schedule here: https://www.paff.org/films/#!/ ArtFEST Hours, February 8-19, 2018: Mon–Fri: 10a–9p; Sat: 10a–9p; Sun: 11a–7p. PAFF’s goal to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help destroy negative stereotypes. We believe film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times. Established in 1992, PAFF is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural understanding among peoples of African descent. PAFF is dedicated to racial tolerance through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression. Contact info: 6820 La Tijera Blvd, Suite 200, LA 90045; info@paff.org, 310-337-4737, Fax: 310-337-4736

Ayuko Babu and Alfre Woodard at PAFF

Through Feb 25: “Another Promised Land: Anita Brenner’s Mexico” at Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., LA 90049, (310) 440-4500. A new perspective on the art and visual culture of Mexico and its relationship to the United States as seen through the life and work of the Mexican-born, American Jewish writer Anita Brenner (1905–1974). Brenner was an integral part of the circle of Mexican modernists in the 1920s and played an important role in promoting and translating Mexican art, culture, and history for audiences in the United States. Brenner was close to the leading intellectuals and artists active in Mexico, including José Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jean Charlot, and Tina Modotti. An influential and prolific writer on Mexican culture, Brenner is best known for her book Idols Behind Altars: Modern Mexican Art and Its Cultural Roots (1929). The Skirball’s exhibition will provide an immersive experience of historic discovery and underscore Brenner’s importance as a Jewish woman in Mexico who inspired artists and was instrumental in introducing the North American public to Mexican history and culture.

Thru May 6: Stories of Almost Everyone: an exhibition about the willingness to believe the stories that are conveyed by works of contemporary art. In recent years, a continued emphasis on an art of ideas—inherited from the legacies of conceptual and post-conceptual artistic practice—has sought to further develop strategies in the service of communicating social, political, and economic histories. To varying degrees, there has been a renewed faith in the abilities of artworks to convey meaning and facilitate supposedly authentic experiences, while artists have simultaneously retained tendencies rooted in mysticism, fiction, and the arts of deception. This exhibition is organized around the premise that objects of contemporary art possess narrative histories and inner lives that the conventions of display can only, at best, approximate. Through the work of over thirty international artists, Stories of Almost Everyone seeks to address the means by which a broad range of contemporary artworks and artifacts traffic in meaning and mythology in equal measure. The varying artistic approaches brought together for this exhibition are as equally emboldened by a faith in objects to communicate their inherent value, as they are skeptical of the conditions of museological mediation and art’s promise to convey meaning. Stories of Almost Everyone is organized by Aram Moshayedi, curator, with Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, curatorial assistant. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd. LA 90024, (310) 443-7000, info@hammer.ucla.edu

Feb 1 – Thu

CSUN Sustainabili-Tea, 2-3p, Sustainability Center, Cal State U Northridge, Free. These monthly informal meetings stimulate interdisciplinary conversations about pressing sustainability challenges the world faces, and how we might prepare for and address those challenges. Some topics we’ll discuss in our monthly meetings include the implementation of our Climate Action Plan, research and grant opportunities related to sustainability, and this month, we’ll focus on the topic of urban resilience. Coffee and tea will be served – BYOMug.

OPEN SCREEN – 8p, Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado St, LA 90026, (213) 484-8846, http://www.echoparkfilmcenter.org Come share your film with the feisty EPFC audience! We love new work, old work, works in progress, every genre, every style! Sign up for an up-to-10-minute maximum limit time slot, one film per filmmaker. First come, first screened. DVD, Quicktime, VHS, mini-DV, DV-CAM, Super 8, Standard 8mm, 16mm.

Whittier Peace Free Film Night: Bicycle Revolution, 7-9p, St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 7056 Washington Ave, Whittier 90602. Park on Washington (additional parking behind church). N/E corner of Wardman St. & Washington Ave. Washington Ave (not Blvd) runs north and south two short blocks east of Greenleaf. Walk through the second gate n. of Wardman. Co-directed by Dr. Paul Steinberg of Harvey Mudd College and Kevin Foxe. Bicycle Revolution documents the experience of 15 students in a one-of-a-kind college course that takes place entirely on bicycles. Together the students explore a question on every young person’s mind these days: Is meaningful social change possible? In their search for answers, they meet with mayors, city council members, community activists and city staff who are on the front lines of struggles to make sustainability a reality. Whittier Area Peace & Justice Coalition Info 562-587-6270 or 562-233-8579 http://whittierpeace.org

Feb 2 – Fri

Los Angeles Poverty Department’s Movie Nights at the Museum, 7p, Skid Row History Museum and Archive, 250 S. Broadway, LA 90012. Free movie screenings, free popcorn, free coffee & free conversation. Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, we screen movies about issues that are important to our Skid Row and downtown community at the #skidrowmuseum. “Civic Art: Four Stories from South Los Angeles” A film by Mark Escribano and Sara Daleiden, s(o)ul. Filmmaker and artist Sara Daleiden will be there for post screening conversation with Lanetta Kimmons of LA Dept of Recreation & Parks and Eddie Howard of the Skid Row Parks Committee!

*NEW*FILM: Trumping Democracy, Topanga Library, 122 N Topanga Canyon Blvd, Topanga, California 90290, 7-10p. This explosive new documentary shows how Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States by winning three key states, a victory engineered by an ultra-conservative faction that quietly mapped its way to power using fake news, lies and psychometrics. Trumping Democracy follows the money to the reclusive multi-billionaire Robert Mercer. Using data of millions of Americans acquired from banks, credit companies, Facebook, Google, social security and more, another Mercer company, Cambridge Analytica, used tactics honed during the UK’s Brexit campaign to identify voters deemed “most neurotic or worried,” whom they believed could swing for Trump. In the days before the election, using a little-known Facebook feature, “dark posts”, they deployed highly manipulative and personalized messages, which could be seen only by the user before disappearing. In the darkness of the web, democracy was trumped by data. After the film we will have a discussion and expect to have the filmmaker via Skype from Paris. Before the film, we will have announcements regarding upcoming events and actions for peace and social justice.

Doors open at 7.
Veggie Snack Pot Luck at 7:15 PM
Movie at 7:30 PM
If you can, please bring a non-alcoholic beverage or vegetarian potluck snacks to share.

The event is ADA compliant with plenty of easy parking, elevator access and headphones for those who need a little extra volume. The movie will be in the meeting room, across the patio from the elevator and the top of the stairs.

*NEW* AnswerLA Workshop on police brutality, SoCal Library, 6120 S. Vermont Avenue, LA, 90044, 2-4p. This Black History Month, come uplift the Black Radical Tradition at a four-part series of teach-ins and workshops highlighting revolutionary elements of Black history. While there has been much progress made in the fight against racism in the U.S., there is still much ground to be covered before the total liberation of Black people is achieved. The length of the road ahead has been underscored by the Trump administration and the white supremacist sectors of society that it has emboldened. When the movement slows in pace, the role of progressives and revolutionaries is to study the concrete lessons from the struggles of the past and build on them for the sake of tomorrow. Many of the lessons from our radical predecessors uncover a path to a new and sustainable people’s system free of racism, bigotry, exploitation, imperialism and environmental plunder.

Family Flicks Film Series: Bugsy Malone, 11a, Hammer Museum Billy Wilder Theater, free.
Recommended for ages 8+. In answer to his kids’ complaints that they weren’t allowed to see The Godfather, director Alan Parker reimagined Prohibition-era Chicago and the exploits of Al Capone as a toe-tapping musical with an all-kid cast and pie fights in place of gun battles. Jodie Foster and Scott Baio lead the cast as a torch singer and a tough guy who defend their speakeasy from a rival gang, set to the catchy rhythms of Paul Williams’s songs. (1976, dir. Alan Parker, 35mm, 93 min.)

The Black Book, Volume IV: Black Love in the Hour of Chaos, 3p, Hammer Museum, free. Using film clips, music videos, excerpts from literature, and samples from social media, Tisa Bryant and Ernest Hardy celebrate black love in all its forms: romantic, familial, friendly, communal. This dense but fast-moving presentation looks at the creation, manifestation, nurturing, and resilience of black love in the face of white supremacy and anti-blackness across generations. 10899 Wilshire Blvd. LA 90024, (310) 443-7000, info@hammer.ucla.edu

Chief Sanchez and City Manager Mermell have despite pressure acceded to none of the demands of local police reform activists. It is crucial that we continue to tell our leaders in city government: to immediately demote the officers to desk duty until the conclusion of the investigation, and preferably remove them from the department; to get an independent police auditor to report directly to City Council; and to require an independent investigation of any Use of Force incidents, including Chris Ballew’s. The community does not trust the police department to police itself, and the more transparency the better.

“First comply, then complain” is the police department’s response to Chris Ballew’s beating, as they claim Ballew (and possibly others) did not initially comply, and therefore their savage use of force was justified. Let’s call “excessive force” out for what it really is – torture.

Bring your own signs or feel free to print out the one posted in then comments below.

Meeting is on the 2nd floor in Room S249. See Feb. 4th listing for Chris Ballew links.

McLuhan-Finnegans Wake Reading Club, 6p, Marina Del Rey Library, 4533 Admiralty Way , MDR. http:// laughtears.com/McLuhanWake. html Article on WAKE 22nd year: http://argonautnews.com/decrypting-finnegans-wake/ “Finnegans Wake is more than a book…it contains the world. So owning it is like having the essence of everything. I feel like it might just as well be a Sumerian text.” – Patti Smith

The Animated Woman Presents Tropes, Teaching & Tests…Knowing The 3 T’s For Gender Equity In Animation, 8p, Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado St, LA 90026, (213) 484-8846, http://www.echoparkfilmcenter.org. We kick off our 2018 lecture series with the amazing Erica Larsen and a journey of discovery into the subtle ways gender bias can be inserted into animated media and how to spot them! We will discuss how reoccurring narratives, character traits, designs and methods keep us stuck in the “wholesome” days of yore when female characters upheld gender norms. Next we will learn ways of spotting them, calling them out, and also striving to break the mold in our own world. The lecture will conclude with a group activity putting these methods into action. $10 Admission for this event. Advance sign up encouraged.Zocalo: Does Childhood Trauma Live in the Body Forever? With Nadine Burke Harris, 7:30p. Moderated by Carol S. Larson, President and CEO, David and Lucile Packard Foundation. National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, 111 N Central Ave, LA 90012. Where do we find answers to the world’s growing plagues of chronic illnesses–from diabetes to depression? In childhood. Surveys and research show a connection between ill health in adults and adversity in childhood–divorce, substance abuse, neglect, and various other forms of emotional and physical abuse. What’s the nature of connections between childhood stress and health? How can we better assist unhealthy adults whose problems are rooted in childhood trauma? Nadine Burke Harris, pediatrician, founder and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness, and author of The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity, visits Zócalo to examine the newest thinking on how people can overcome childhood trauma–and avoid its long-term ill effects. A free, hosted reception with the evening’s featured guests will follow the program. Paid parking is available at the Little Tokyo Mall Public Parking Lot (318 E. First St.) Enter from San Pedro Street. Additional paid parking is available at the Japanese Village Plaza Parking Lot (356 E First St.) and the Office Depot Plaza Parking Lot (401 Alameda St).

Richard Falk Speaking on Israel-Palestine, 7p, Culver-Palms United Methodist Church, 4464 Sepulveda Bl, Culver City 90230, 5 Blocks South of Culver Blvd. Park in Large Lot Behind Church. Donation: $10 – $5 for Students. Richard Falk Discusses the Suppressed U.N. Report by Himself and Virginia Tilley Titled: “Israeli Practices Towards The Palestinian People and The Question of Apartheid”. Full copies are available on websites including: http://www.electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/2017-03/un_apartheid_report_15_march_english_final_.pdf Falk is a Research Fellow on Global & International Studies at UCSB & Emeritus Professor of International Law at Princeton University. From 2008-2014 he served as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories.

*NEW*From Protest to Power: A Discussion of Stand Up!, 7-9p, McCarty Memorial Christian Church, 4101 W Adams Blvd, LA 90018. Join Gordon Whitman, author of the new book on community organizing and social change, Stand Up! How to Get Involved, Speak Out, and Win in a World on Fire, and grassroots leaders from LA Voice and ACCE for a discussion of the role of community organizing in translating resistance and protest into lasting political power. Book signing to follow. Contact gordon.whitman@gmail.com 202-427-2992 http://la.indymedia.org/calendar/event_display_detail.php?event_id=11309

*NEW*Swing Left – Effective Voter Persuasion Training, 7-8:30p, Faith Presbyterian Church, 5000 Colfax Ave, North Hollywood, CA 91601. Learn how to have effective conversations with potential voters. This can help us in phone banks, canvassing, or in every-day life! This is how we plant the seeds of change in our communities. The training will be facilitated by veteran political consultant and all around fantastic guy, Christian Esperias. These seminars will be interactive, engaging and fun and will give you the skills you need to go out there and make a difference! ABOUT CHRISTIAN: Christian Esperias began his career working for President Obama’s re-election, where he spent time organizing. No RSVP necessary. http://www.sfvindivisible.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SFV-Indivisible-370390643319702/

*NEW*FILM: Equal Means Equal, Ventura College, 4667 Telegraph Rd, Ventura, California 93003, 6-8:30p, free. Equal Means Equal offers an unflinching look at how women are treated in the United States today by uncovering outdated and discriminatory attitudes that influence seemingly disparate issues, from workplace harassment to domestic violence, rape and sexual assault to the foster care system, and the healthcare conglomerate to the judicial system. Director, Kamala Lopez, reveals the inadequacy of present laws that claim to protect women, ultimately presenting a compelling and persuasive argument for the urgency of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. To learn more, visit: https://www.equalmeansequal.com/
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/123015515043775/

The Academy of Architecture for Justice Bay Area presents “Defender” (80 min), a feature length film about the critical role that public defenders play in fighting for racial and social justice in America. The film takes viewers on a personal and intense tour through the underbelly of the criminal injustice system, seen through the eyes of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who is one of the nation’s few elected public defenders. Adachi tells the story of how public defenders came to be, and why they play a critical role as the watchdogs of a system that over-incarcerates people of color and has long been out of control. Adachi also exposes the racism within the system. Adachi represents a young African American man who is charged with assaulting police officers after being falsely accused of a crime in a case with racial overtones. In this era of mass incarceration and police shootings of young African American men, how do we, as a society, grapple with the issues of racism and implicit bias in policing and its consequences for those who question police authority? The film also follows Adachi’s public battle to allow his office to represent immigrants in deportation proceedings in post-Trump America. Panel discussion and film screening will include the following presenters: (Moderator) Jeff Adachi, Public Defender | City and County of San Francisco, Angela F. Chan, Director and Senior Staff Attorney, Criminal Justice Reform
Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, Garrett Jacobs, Executive Director | Open Architecture Collaborative, Raphael Sperry, President | Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility.

*NEW* State of the State with Sandra Fluke, 7:30p, Cvuuf Community Forum, 3327 Old Conejo Rd, Newbury Park, 91320. Sandra Fluke is the California State Director of an advocacy organization that has focused on climate change, economic inequality, campaign finance reform, immigration, healthcare, and criminal justice reform. She will bring us up to date on the issues being addressed right now in Sacramento, and how we can be advocates for local and national issues right here at home. Ms Fluke was a State Senate candidate in 2014. Prior to that run she garnered national attention by testifying before members of Congress regarding insurance coverage for birth control, and became nationally known when she took on Rush Limbaugh. Admission is free of charge/donations gratefully accepted.
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/579116355762296/Tweets by SandraFlukehttps://Facebook.com/StandWithSandrahttp://www.standwithsandra.org/
forum and events: https://www.facebook.com/Cvuuf-Community-Forum-123965540995689/

February 10 at 1 p.m | Bibliographic Society Talk, Rare book librarian and professor of English and Communications at Simmons College, Sidney Berger will lead the society’s annual talk. Details to come.

February 10 at 3 p.m | It’s Alive: How Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Changed the World, Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan moderates a lively discussion that explores Frankenstein’s indelible impact on literature, movies, and pop culture. Panelists include Miranda Butler, scholar of 19th Century literature, science, and technology who teaches courses in Science Fiction Film and Television at California State University, Los Angeles; David J. Skal, historian and writer on horror literature and film and author of The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror; and Sara Karloff, the daughter of film’s most famous portrayer of Frankenstein’s monster and co-author of Boris Karloff: A Gentleman’s Life.

February 11, noon | Book Collecting 101, noted booksellers Carol Sandberg, Brad Johnson and (name to come) will provide a crash course on the essentials you need to know to start collecting. Topics include: What to collect and collecting strategies, What is a “first edition?”, How to judge a book’s condition, Bookish terms and jargon, Where to buy books and Where to find additional information. Q&A follows.

*NEW* Losing The Art legacy of 800 Traction & the Arts District, 4-8p, 800 Traction Ave, LA. Art and community are worth fighting for and we aren’t giving up. Please join us as we initiate this conversation in Little Tokyo and the Arts District at our Art Party Event. We call upon our friends and neighbors to help create a vision for sustainable art production as integral to community building work. We stand to lose one of the first Artists in Residence buildings in the Arts District and one of the oldest exhibition spaces in both the Arts District and the Little Tokyo area. https://www.facebook.com/events/407850912968927/ https://www.facebook.com/artistsdistrict/

Is Geoengineering Actually About Using Weather As A Weapon? 7p, Peace Center, 3916 S. Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City 90230, Donations Accepted. Free parking behind the building. Info: Marcia: 310-478-8828 or Joe: drschwa@gmail.com. Earth and her atmosphere have been weaponized before our very eyes. Elana Freeland, a brilliant investigative author, speaker and teacher, exhaustively documented these programs in her 2014 book: Chemtrails, HAARP and the Full Spectrum Dominance of Planet Earth. She will explain in detail how the chemical aerosols whiting out our skies and the ionospheric heaters work together to assure 24/7 military operations of global control, including but not limited to weather modification.

*NEW*Israel/Palestine: The Current Situation and the Way Forward, 10:30a-12:30p, Sholem Community, 5401 Beethoven St, LA 90066. Featuring ESTEE CHANDLER of Jewish Voice for Peace. What role should the US have in the Israel/Palestine conflict? What part can American Jews play? Is criticizing Israel antisemitic? All are welcome to be part of this community discussion. Estee Chandler is the Jewish American daughter of an Israeli father and an American mother. She grew up in So Cal where her work in the film industry, on both sides of the camera, spans more than thirty years. She co-hosts the KPFK radio show “Middle East in Focus.” In 2010, Estee launched a Los Angeles chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a national organization promoting solutions based on universal human rights for both Palestinians and Israelis equally. Entrance at rear of building, accessible from Coral Tree Place, Wheelchair accessible | Coffee & Bagels served. For more info, email: ejcaine@aol.comhttp://sholem.org & http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2128155564082031/

Committee for Racial Justice presents: Social Justice Action Plan for SMMUSD, 6-8:30p, (singing group meets at 5:30pm in Thelma Terry Bldg). Potluck supper at 6p & program at 6:30p. Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Bldg., 2200 Virginia Ave. Santa Monica 90404. Free Workshop. Dr. Jacqueline Mora, Asst. District Superintendent of Education Services for the Santa Monica/Malibu United School District will present the new Social Justice Action Plan that will be a part of the district’s overall plan to move toward Equity and reduce the achievement gap for students of color in our school district. There will also be a panel discussion and Q & A. Co-sponsored by Virginia Ave. Park; the African American Parent, Staff, Student Support Group; and the Church in Ocean Park. For more information, call Joanne at 310-422-5431

Music & Performance – Comedy Sweeties: A Night With Sara Schaefer and Friends, 7:30p, Hammer Museum, free. Leave the flowers and chocolates at home and come toast love and celebrate what really makes the world go ’round—laughter. Sara Schaefer leads an all-female lineup of comedians with Janine Brito, Naomi Ekperigin, and Kyle Mizono.

*NEW* ACLU SoCal Pasadena/Foothills Chapter Forum – Police Surveillance: Who Knows What About You? What Can You Do About It?, 7p, Friends Meeting House, 520 E. Orange Grove Bl, Pasadena. Police departments across the nation are deploying evermore sophisticated technologies to track the activities of the citizens they are charged with protecting. Some tools can capture information from your cellphone when you attend a rally or even in your home. Others can monitor your social media activity or record your license plate or film you walking down the street. And you probably won’t know any of that is happening – or where the information is going. ACLU SoCal Pasadena/Foothills Chapter, Coalition for Increased Civilian Oversight of Pasadena Police, LA Progressive, Pasadenans Organizing for Progress (POP) cicopp@popasadena.org, 213.434.4643 https://police-surveillance.eventbrite.com/https://www.aclusocal.org

Feb 14 – Wed

Art By People In Love – 8p, Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado St, LA 90026, (213) 484-8846, www.echoparkfilmcenter.org We’re in love with love and what better way to celebrate (or commiserate) than a Valentine’s Day mash note mishmash of films, poems, performance songs and dances? The theme is simple: we ask that those in love—with someone, something or some place—present some work (10 minutes or less) dealing with this theme. Kinda like “an open mic night” for romantics…

*NEW* CopWatch Santa Ana General Meeting/Community Forum, 7-10p, El Centro Cultural de México, 837 N. Ross St. Santa Ana (new address) You are invited to come participate in direct-action based barrio organizing against the police state. Every 2nd Wed. of the month at 7pm. Professional childcare will be provided. Agents of the state including the Santa Ana Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are NOT welcomed. http://ocprogressiveevents.info

Feb 15 – Thu

Screening: The Untelling Detail, 7:30p, Hammer Museum. This screening of short videos by artists included in Stories of Almost Everyone reflects and refers back to works and ideas that appear in the exhibition. Organized around the concept that inanimate objects and inert cultural artifacts are conduits for narrative histories, the program considers how artists use moving images to extend the life of things and materials that would otherwise appear to be stable and resolute. Contributors include Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, Isabelle Cornaro, Mark Leckey, Klara Lidén, and Shahryar Nashat.

*NEW* Whittier Peace 3rd Thursday Teach-In, 7p. See Feb. 1st listing for address. We will continue showing the astounding documentary film series: A Very Heavy Agenda. Even if you missed our screening of Part 1 at our January 4th Movie Night, you can attend 3rd Thursdays for the next few months and learn much from the rest of this film series. Tonight we continue Part 2: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New Neo-Cons. Who are the Neo-Cons? How have they influenced the agenda and actions of the American Empire? In this astounding documentary series they tell us exactly who and what they are in their own words. Filmmaker Robbie Martin’s exceptional insight, video editing and music composition talent makes this series not just a documentary but a work of art. We showed Part 1 on January 4th and will show the rest, of the over 7 hours of this series, on subsequent 3rd Thursday Teach-Ins. The horrific consequences of what the Neo-Cons have perpetrated on our world continue to manifest. Join us for a round table discussion of current important topics after the film.

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988: The Victory and the Unfinished Business

In addition to marking the 76th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, this year’s event commemorates the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the legislation that provided a formal apology from the US government and monetary reparations to survivors of the forced evacuation and mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Featured speakers will include Alan Nishio, community activist and founding member of National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (now Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress), who will speak about the importance of the Civil Liberties Act, what it did not accomplish, and its ongoing relevance today.

Presented in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum, Go For Broke National Education Center, JACL Pacific Southwest District, Manzanar Committee, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, Nikkei Progressives, OCA-Greater Los Angeles, and Progressive Asian Network for Action.

Admission to this event and JANM are both pay-what-you-wish on this day.

*NEW* Justice for the Anaheim 3 / Hear their Stories / Show Support, 3-5p, UUCA Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim, 511 S Harbor Bl, Anaheim. On Feb 27 2016 activists and community members decided that the Ku Klux Klan should not be allowed to spew their racist ideology in our neighborhoods. Dozens converged at Pearson Park, Anaheim and confronted the group to make it clear they were not welcome. The KKK responded by stabbing several anti-racist protestors with knives and other home-made weapons. The Anaheim police arrived hours after the rally was scheduled to start and decided that the victims of the stabbings should be handcuffed while raising the caution tape for one of the KKK perpetrators to go free. When three brave anti-racist fighters (Mark Liddell, Hugo Contreras and Nicole Schop) attempted to detain this violent criminal, they were arrested and held in jail for more than two days. Then, the “justice” system followed suit with the police and showed their allegiance to the Klan. The DA filed misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest charges against these three heroes while no charges were filed against any member of the KKK. An openly racist president, the Klan, and groups like them have been emboldened. Time and time again we have seen the police and the courts protect them. Just Jan. 24 an off-duty police officer who fired a gun during a dispute with teens in Anaheim was not charged. These 3 courageous fighters deserve to be celebrated, not prosecuted! Listen to their stories and learn how you can support Hugo Contreras (of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica), Mark Liddell (of the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles), and Nicole Schop, in their continuing struggle for justice. Contact Sarah Harper for more information: amapolaroja@gmail.comhttp://ocprogressiveevents.info/cgi-bin/calendar.cgi?T#Feb17ja3

*NEW* Film Screening: Whose Streets?, The Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th. St., Ste. 100
Santa Ana, 1:30-4p. In partnership with The Frida Cinema, the Orange County Racial Justice Collaborative presents Whose Streets? This powerful film chronicles the events that took place in Ferguson, Missouri after an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white policeman on August 9, 2014. Shown from the perspective of the residents of Ferguson, Whose Streets? reveals the untold story of what really happened in the days after Michael Brown’s death. Tickets are $5. http://ocprogressiveevents.info/ Event: http://ocprogressiveevents.info/cgi-bin/calendar.cgi?T#Feb18ws

Theoretical Lessons of the Russian Revolution, 6:30-8:30p, Peace Center, 3916 Sepulveda Blvd., near Venice Blvd. (free parking in rear)Suite 101-102, press #22 for entry. Speakers: Kevin B. Anderson, author of Lenin, Hegel, and Western Marxism; Edward Tapia, writer on imperialism for New Politics and other journals. Sponsored by the West Coast Chapter, International Marxist-Humanist Organization, <arise@internationalmarxisthumanist.org>http://www.internationalmarxisthumanist.org/

Art Imitates Nature Fundraiser: Classic Film Night, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat” 7-9p, We’re going to relax with family and friends in the music room of the Valley Art Workshop. Plant-based hors d’oeuvres potluck encouraged. We’ll have popcorn and tea at the ready! We’re asking for donations of $20 or more to bring back the kelp forests in the Santa Monica Bay and Palos Verdes Peninsula. You can simply make these donations online at the event or show us the receipt when coming in for the event. Contact organizer Miles Lewis: 818-390-2215.

INCORRECT INFO IN PRINT EDITION: THE FOLLOWING EVENT IS ACTUALLY Feb. 18

Theoretical Lessons of the Russian Revolution, 6:30-8:30p, Peace Center, 3916 Sepulveda Blvd., near Venice Blvd. (free parking in rear)Suite 101-102, press #22 for entry. Speakers:
Kevin B. Anderson, author of Lenin, Hegel, and Western Marxism; Edward Tapia, writer on imperialism for New Politics and other journals. Sponsored by the West Coast Chapter, International Marxist-Humanist Organization, <arise@internationalmarxisthumanist.org>http://www.internationalmarxisthumanist.org/

Feb 20 – Tue

“Black Panther” Movie Night Fundraiser, hosted by Southwestern Law Black Law Students, 6-10p, Southwestern Law Black Law Students Association, 3050 Wilshire Blvd, LA 90010. Come see Black Panther with us and support the Southwestern Law School Black Law Students Association while doing it. LA Live Regal Cinema in downtown L.A. For tickets, email swlaw@nblsa.org. https://www.facebook.com/events/1178939705574098/

Break the Chain Film Screening, 5:30-9p, film starts 6:30 p, Museum of Ventura County, 100 E Main St, Ventura 93001, free. With filmmaker, Laura Swanson. This award-winning feature length documentary film addresses the often “hidden-in-plain-sight” issue of Human Trafficking in the US. Co-hosted by VCCAHT, The Acorn Project, Interface Family Services, The Polaris Project, Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, The Coalition for Family Harmony, Museum of Ventura County, Youth With A Mission, and Soroptimist. To learn more, visit: http://breakthechainfilm.com, http://www.facebook.com/stophumantraffickingventuracounty/

Feb 22 – Thu

Passing the Torch—From Selma to Today, Lessons from Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, 7:30p, Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., LA 90049, (310) 440-4500, info@skirball.org. Join former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr., and Dr. Clarence B. Jones—three pivotal figures of the 1960s civil rights movement—and moderator Stosh Cotler, executive director of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, as they reflect on how the Selma to Montgomery march and other key actions led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Then consider what strategies can transform racist and unjust public policy today. Presented in collaboration with The Gateway Educational Foundation. $12 General, $10 Members and Full-Time Students

Feel The Bern at the CA Democratic Party convention in San Diego, hosted by Bernie Sanders Brigade and Food & Water Watch – California; 10p Feb 23-1p Feb 25. Mark your calendar as we make our voices and presence felt at the 2018 California Democrats State Convention. During the convention Democrats will ratify candidate endorsements, endorse candidates for statewide office and map out their agenda. We will make sure that the leadership hears from the people what we believe to be the best agenda, not what the party establishment think we should focus on. We can no longer accept business as usual. From Healthcare for All to jobs, housing education immigration, the environment, money in politics, election reform, homelessness, jobs and much more needs to have real changes not merely more lip service. Stay tuned for updates – convention information will be posted as it becomes available. https://www.facebook.com/events/156082318479569/

Feb 24 – Sat

ADDED EVENT NOT IN PRINT EDITION

Making #BlackLivesMatter in Schools, 9:30a-2:30p, Los Angeles Trade–Technical College, 400 W Washington Blvd, L.A. 90015. CALLING all high school students, youth, parents, teachers, community members to participate, stand with us and say #BlackStudentsLivesMatter! 2018 is the year we can #EndRandomSearches in LAUSD! 2018 is the year we can win community schools! We want to end the over-policing and underfunding of youth of color in LAUSD but in order to do that we must organize, organize, ORGANIZE! FIGHT FOR THE SCHOOLS L.A. #STUDENTSDESERVE. Join us Feb 24th as we convene with Youth Leaders to learn, organize and celebrate our fight to end random searches and win community schools. RSVP https://www.eventbrite.com/e/making-blacklivesmatter-in-schools-tickets-42687338980. Event will take place in the school South Quad https://www.schoolslastudentsdeserve.com/donate.htmlhttps://www.facebook.com/events/1818756465090748/

American Masters presents A Fierce Green Fire, the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement. The one-hour documentary chronicles one of the largest movements of the 20th century, and one of the keys to the 21st.

Written, directed and produced by Academy Award-nominee Mark Kitchell (Berkeley in the Sixties), American Masters: A Fierce Green Fire spans 50 years of grassroots and global activism from the 1960s-2009 and connects the major causes of environmentalism, from conservation to climate change. Narrated by Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Ashley Judd, Van Jones and Isabel Allende, the film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and has won acclaim worldwide.

Inspired by the book of the same name by environmental journalist and film interviewee Philip Shabecoff, and informed by advisors like conservation biologist E.O. Wilson, A Fierce Green Fire unfolds in five acts, each with a central story and character, featuring vivid archival footage and new interviews that shed light on the battle for a living planet. The first four acts include success stories of people fighting for causes against enormous odds, and the fifth concludes with climate change.

The Conservation Movement
Act 1, narrated by Robert Redford, focuses on the conservation movement of the 1960s, the Sierra Club and its Executive Director David Brower’s battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon.

Pollution and Cleanup
Act 2, narrated by Ashley Judd, looks at pollution in the 1970s, spotlighting the fight led by film interviewee Lois Gibbs and other Love Canal (Niagara, N.Y.) residents to save their children from toxic waste.

Greenpeace
Act 3, narrated by Van Jones, features alternative ecology strands like Greenpeace and its famous campaigns to save whales and baby harp seals, including interviews with co-founders Paul Watson and Rex Weyler.

Global Resources
Act 4, narrated by Isabelle Allende, charts the rise of global resource crises in the 1980s with the struggle to save the Amazon rainforest, led by Chico Mendes and his fellow Brazilian rubber tappers, as its centerpiece.

*NEW* Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project: Sailing for a Nuclear-Free
World – A Party with a Purpose, Newport Boy Scout Sea Base, 1931 West Coast Hwy
Newport Beach, 3-5p. Once-in-a-lifetime party with the crew of the Golden Rule peace boat, and the world premiere of the documentary, “Peace Sail: The Story of the Golden Rule”. Party guests will be invited to see the Golden Rule and enjoy conversation with the crew. Wine and snacks will be served followed by the film premiere and a silent auction. It has been sixty years since the Golden Rule’s attempted voyage to the Marshall Islands to interfere with U.S. atmospheric nuclear bomb testing. In celebration we will be raising funds for the Golden Rule’s upcoming voyage to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Japan and maybe even the Korean Peninsula. With the world once again worried about the possibility of nuclear war, this is the time to raise public awareness about the need to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all. Sailing this historic little anti-nuclear sailboat across the Pacific is a dramatic way to spread the word in the U.S. and around the globe. http://ocprogressiveevents.info/ Event: http://ocprogressiveevents.info/cgi-bin/calendar.cgi?T#Feb25gr

Screening as part of the series The Black Book: Chocolate Babies, 7:30p, free, Hammer Museum. In this audacious political satire, a band of HIV-positive queer urban activists of color stage a series of surprise attacks to expose political corruption surrounding the AIDS epidemic. (1997, dir. Stephen Winter, 83 min.) Q&A with Tisa Bryant and Ernest Hardy follows the screening.

is a look at the 1992 riots in Los Angeles from the perspective of the Korean American community. The story is based on the experiences of Chon’s own family as store owners at that time. The film was released on August 18, 2017 and is now playing in theaters.

Screening: Faces Places, 7:30p, free, Hammer Museum. The 89-year-old director Agnès Varda, a leading figure of the French New Wave, travels the villages of France with 33-year-old JR, an acclaimed photographer and muralist, producing and installing epic portraits of locals they meet along the way. An exploration of artistic vision and Varda’s enduring legacy, the “magnificently moving, funny, and altogether wonderful” (Indiewire) documentary received the Toronto Film Festival’s Peoples Choice award and the Golden Eye Prize at Cannes. (2017, dir. Agnès Varda and JR, 89 min.)

Under One Sky 27th Interfaith Intercultural Breakfast: California Conference for Equality and Justice, 7:30-9:30a, Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, 300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach 90802. Tickets Available: http://www.cacej.org. This event is an opportunity for people of all racial, gender, sexuality, religious, and cultural identities to come together to celebrate the richness of our diversity and to share in the vision of a truly inclusive community. Our theme this year is “Two Spirits, One Heart”. The speakers this year are Marsha and Aiden Aizumi, a mother and transgender son who have spoken around the county to over 150 organizations about their journey from fear, shame and sadness to unconditional love and acceptance. Marsha is currently the president of PFLAG San Gabriel Valley Asian Pacific Islanders (SGV API) chapter and also serves on the PFLAG National Board of Directors. PFLAG is an organization that provides parents, family and allies support, education and advocacy for their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) children, family or friends. Aiden is the President of the PFLAG Pasadena chapter and also serves on PFLAG National’s Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Advisory Council. They have written a book about their journey called Two Spirits, One Heart. It is their hope that their work both written and speaking will bring more resources, awareness and inspiration to LBGTQ individuals, families and allies.

Among other things, the Mayor Garcetti-appointed commissioners are tasked with choosing three finalists to submit to the mayor for filling the police chief position, approving weekly reports by the LAPD, approving budget requests, and determining whether or not to recommend charges against officers in cases of officer-involved shootings, a statistic that the LAPD regularly leads all US police departments in.

How can residents of Los Angeles take seriously a board tasked with civilian oversight when its president sits on the board of a foundation that gives money to a group that exists solely to provide funds and equipment unencumbered by city budget oversight to the Los Angeles Police Department?

Held on Tuesdays at 9:30am at LAPD headquarters, these meetings are often inaccessible to Los Angeles residents most affected by the very policies on which this civilian commission regularly vote. At this past Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting, commission president Steve Soboroff led the unanimous vote to approve the donation of $31,500 from the nonprofit Los Angeles Police Foundation to be used to purchase drones for the 1-year pilot program, despite the presence of community organizers and activists showing up again to express their concerns.

Commission President Soboroff sits on the board of the Weingart Foundation, which provides grants to a number of LA area nonprofits, including the Los Angeles Police Foundation. How can residents of Los Angeles take seriously a board tasked with civilian oversight when its president sits on the board of a foundation that gives money to a group that exists solely to provide funds and equipment unencumbered by city budget oversight to the Los Angeles Police Department? I think it’s high time for Mayor Garcetti to appoint police commissioners who truly represent the communities the LAPD is tasked with serving, otherwise we need to stop pretending that this board is one of “civilian” oversight.

Editors of Resumen LatinoAmericano: The large women’s marches that took place in the US to mark a year of the Trump Administration were primarily organized by elements of the Democratic Party. The energy in the streets was strong and positive but the political message was to channel that into Dems winning back congress in the 2018 mid term elections. The Democrats are every bit a party of continuous war as are the Republicans. The solution is not voter registration drives but building a mass independent movement.

The March will speak out against hate, discrimination, and exploitation. That’s good. The March will also speak out strongly in favor of equality, women’s reproductive choice and respect for all people regardless of disability, gender, orientation, etc. That’s also good.

But the subject of U.S. military aggression and war is essential. We hope many marchers will include this in their signage. Despite many antiwar groups actively advocating for “peace” to be in the platform/demands of the March, this is the second year peace is being minimized or ignored by the organizers.

For the past century or more, the US has intervened against governments the establishment does not like. A partial list includes Philippines, Korea, Guatemala, Iran, Cuba, Chile, Vietnam, Angola, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Lebanon, Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela, Honduras, Libya and Syria!

These acts have killed millions of people including thousands of our own youth, both women and men. They have resulted in hundreds of thousands returning injured physically or psychologically. Mothers, wives, sisters, aunts, and others have been profoundly and unnecessarily handed a lifetime of pain and sorrow because of the US war machine.

Shouldn’t it be a priority to change the policies and acts of economic aggression and military intervention that result in violence, war and destruction? Shouldn’t we address the causes of the refugee crisis as well as the symptom? After all, most refugees never wanted to leave their homelands.

We’re sure most of the women and allies attending the Women’s March agree with us on the need for action and protest against our ongoing wars. The escalating military budget is driving our country further into debt. Meanwhile, infrastructure is decaying, health care and housing is diminishing and education is underfunded. College students graduate with astronomical debt. Meanwhile, there is growing police oppression.

We must include PEACE in our march because unless we can stop the trend, a nuclear war is going to destroy civilization. There’s no such thing as a winnable nuclear war and dismantling ALL nukes should be at the forefront of any of our activism. The continuity of human life on our planet is at stake. These are Women’s issues.

Ed Note: The Palestinian American Women’s Association (PAWA) pulled out of the LA march over a speaking slot for Scarlett Johansen, who was a spokesperson for Sodastream, a product that was manufactured by an Israeli company operating in the illegally-occupied Palestinian territories. Dr. Melina Abdullah and her daughter Thandiwe of #BlackLivesMatterLA, who did speak, raised the issues of Palestine, police terror and white women’s majority support for Trump.